Howard Levy

Howard Levy (born July 31, 1951) is an American musician. A keyboardist and virtuoso harmonica player, he "has been realistically presented as one of the most important and radical harmonica innovators of the twentieth century." with whom he won a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for the song "The Sinister Minister". He also won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition in 2012 for "Life in Eleven", a song written with Béla Fleck for the Flecktones' album Rocket Science. He has worked with Arab-fusion musician Rabih Abou-Khalil, Latin jazz saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera, Donald Fagen, and Paul Simon.

Career Levy was born in Brooklyn, New York, and attended the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied piano and pipe organ. For two years, he went to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and participated in the jazz band. He is the Harmonica Lessons instructor for ArtistWorks.

Harmonica innovator Levy plays in many genres: jazz, classical, rock, folk, Latin, blues, country, and world music. He drew attention for his chromatic playing style on a regular diatonic harmonica. He discovered the overblow and overdraw techniques for chromatic playing in 1970. These allow a harmonica player to obtain all the missing chromatic notes in the Richter-tuned diatonic harmonica.

In 1995, he performed the "Harmonia Mundi Suite for Harmonica and Chamber Ensemble" in Chicago.

Discography As leader or co-leader Carnival of Souls (Silver Wave, 1995) The Old Country (M.A., 1996) The Stranger's Hand (Tone Center, 1999) with Jerry Goodman, Oteil Burbridge, and Steve Smith Cappuccino with Fox Fehling (Balkan Samba, 2004) Secret Dream (Balkan Samba, 2005) Howard Levy & Paul Sprawl (Balkan Samba, 2005) Time Capsules (Balkan Samba, 2009) Tonight and Tomorrow (CD Baby/Chicago Sessions, 2009) Silver & Black (Enja, 2009) Concerto for Diatonic Harmonica & Orchestra (Balkan Samba, 2010) Alone and Together (Balkan Samba, 2010) Steering by the Stars (Stonecutter, 2010) Out of the Box (Balkan Samba, 2012) Matzah to Menorah (Balkan Samba, 2012) First Takes (Balkan Samba, 2014) Tango and Jazz (Balkan Samba, 2016) Art + Adrenaline with Chris Siebold (Balkan Samba, 2018)

With Béla Fleck and the Flecktones Béla Fleck and the Flecktones (Warner Bros., 1990) Flight of the Cosmic Hippo (Warner Bros., 1991) UFO Tofu (Warner Bros., 1992) Live Art (Warner Bros., 1996) Rocket Science (eOne, 2011)

With Rabih Abou-Khalil The Sultan's Picnic (Enja, 1994) Odd Times (Enja, 1997) With Samo Salamon Peaks of Light (Samo Records, 2018)

With John McCutcheon Howjadoo (Rounder, 1983) Winter Solstice (Rounder, 1984)) Signs of the Times (Rounder, 1986, with Si Kahn) Gonna Rise Again (Rounder, 1987) Mail Myself to You (Rounder, 1988) Water from Another Time: A Retrospective (Rounder, 1989) What It's Like (Rounder, 1990)

With Pete Seeger Pete (Living Music, 1996)

With Lobster Newberg Tight Rope (Actress, 2009)

Awards and honors Joseph Jefferson Award, Best Original Music for a Play (1986) Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental, "The Sinister Minister", Béla Fleck and the Flecktones (1997) Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition, "Life in Eleven" (2012)